by Patrick Stevens, Special for USA TODAY Sports

Take a look at Friday morning's at-large board. Of the 17 teams between No. 33 (Villanova) and No. 49 (Southern Mississippi), a whopping 16 of them have lost at least once in the last week. A few of them lost twice.

The sole outlier is Stanford, a team that picked up a solid victory at California but has also let inertia do a little bit of work for it. The Cardinal looked like they were toast after a home loss to Colorado last week. Yet despite an underwhelming profile (6-13 against the top 100) that is mercifully devoid of any cringe-worthy defeats, Stanford might be able to make an at-large case with a decent Pac-12 tournament run.

That will depend on whether bid thieves emerge from other conferences (a distinct possibility in places like the Atlantic 10 and Missouri Valley) or if the many borderline teams bobbing along on the bubble can make runs of their own. Based on the last week, that isn't likely to be a common occurrence.

Hot seat: Kentucky

There's not a particularly good reason for Kentucky to still be in the at-large chase. The Wildcats have one top-50 victory (Missouri). They are without injured freshman Nerlens Noel, who provided an authoritative defensive presence. They now have a loss to a team outside the top 100 of the RPI after falling at Georgia on Thursday.

And yet the Wildcats still have a shot at earning an at-large bid, a fact that speaks as much to the inability of bubble teams to seize opportunities as it does Kentucky's own mediocre results.

Let's be clear of something: Kentucky, even without Noel, has talent. It isn't mature and it isn't consistent, but it does exist and could provide a serious scare to a high seed if the Wildcats make the tournament.

The problem is getting there, and the Wildcats will need to find a path to the postseason Saturday against Florida and in next weekend's SEC tournament.

Nightly winners:

Teams that took a step forward, however modest, on Thursday...

Colorado: If there was any question about the Buffaloes' credentials, it's gone now. Colorado ripped Pac-12 leader Oregon in Boulder to solidify its NCAA tournament spot. The Buffs will almost certainly make back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time since 1954-55.

Michigan State: The Spartans are still in the chase for a share of the Big Ten regular season title, which is more than can be said for Wisconsin. Michigan State dispatched the Badgers 58-43 in East Lansing.

Nightly losers:

Teams that took a step back Thursday...

Kentucky: Losing to Georgia was not a good idea for the Wildcats, whose lousy loss-free resume now has a stain on it. Kentucky's regular-season finale against Florida on Saturday takes on even greater significance.

Massachusetts: A 73-62 setback to Butler at home was an opportunity lost for the Minutemen, who need a run in the Atlantic 10 tournament to have a serious shot at an at-large.

Virginia: The Cavaliers lost their second consecutive game, a 53-51 stumble at Florida State. Despite all those solid wins, Virginia is playing with fire thanks to its long list of troubling losses and a terrible non-conference strength of schedule.

Résumé worth dissecting: Villanova

Nothing like a little Wells Fargo Center magic to bolster Villanova's postseason possibilities. The Wildcats have beaten Louisville, Syracuse and Georgetown in their part-time off-campus home, and those three victories are the crux of any argument in favor of Jay Wright's team. Villanova will be the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the Big East tournament and face either Cincinnati or St. John's on Wednesday. There are no guarantees, but one more win should probably do the trick for the Wildcats.

NIT-bound (unless it wins its conference tournament): Brigham Young

The Cougars (21-10) have a nice enough record and avoided glaring mistakes aside from a two-day stretch in early February. But they have beaten no one of any significant value, entering Thursday with Weber State (No. 89 in the RPI) as their most noteworthy triumph.

Clearly, Friday's West Coast Conference tournament game against Pepperdine or San Diego will do Brigham Young little good. And even a victory over Saint Mary's on Saturday isn't going to provide the sort of defining accomplishment for the resume.

Like it or not, Brigham Young is getting into the field only with a conference tournament title. And that probably means going through Saint Mary's and Gonzaga --- teams the Cougars are a combined 1-8 against since joining the WCC last year.

On deck:

Creighton vs. Drake (1:05 p.m. ET): Bubblers will be rooting for Creighton (or Wichita State) to win the Missouri Valley to save a spot in the field. The top-seeded Bluejays get their conference tournament schedule underway against a Drake team they split a home-and-home with.

Wichita State vs. Missouri State (7:05 p.m. ET): Chances are, it would take extreme chaos to knock Wichita State out of the field. But just to be sure, the Shockers would eliminate the tiny lingering doubt in the Missouri Valley quarterfinals by beating Missouri State for the third time this season.

Conference tournament rundown:

Loyola Marymount won one game in conference play during the regular season. The Lions have two wins in the West Coast tournament, with a date with Santa Clara up next. Bless thee, March.

There's a full day of Arch Madness set in the Missouri Valley for Friday after Drake and Missouri State won opening round games.

Tonight's Ohio Valley semifinals will feature three 20-win teams (Belmont, Eastern Kentucky and Murray State) and no team that finished worse than 10-6 in league play. That's the benefit of protecting the top seeds with an atypical conference tournament format.

Top-seeded Charleston Southern advanced to the semifinals of the Big South tournament. A pair of sub-.500 teams --- Virginia Military (14-16) and Liberty (13-20) --- also made it to the event's penultimate round.

Stetson and USC Upstate joined Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun semifinals. No. 5 Upstate is the lowest-seeded team remaining in the field.

There are four games in the Southern tournament, three in the Sun Belt and two more in the Metro Atlantic, which both get underway Friday. The top teams in all three leagues won't get started until Saturday.

The Horizon League tournament reconvenes in northern Indiana, but neither host Valparaiso nor Detroit will play in the event's second round. Third-seeded Wright State does get its first conference tournament contest in the first game of the night's doubleheader.

Stat of the day:

Norfolk State, one of the darlings of last year's NCAA tournament when it knocked out second-seeded Missouri, has won 22 consecutive games against conference foes (including last year's league tournament) after completing an unbeaten run through the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Spartans (21-10) are tied with Memphis for the longest active winning streak against league opponents in Division I.

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About our bracketologist: Patrick Stevens is USA TODAY Sports' bracket/bubble specialist for the 2013 NCAA tournament. He has covered college sports and projected the NCAA tournament field for more than a decade for various publications, including The Washington Times. Don't like his projections? Tweet him @D1scourse.